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Bunkasha Games

Activision

Action

1

02.05.02

Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions

Do you remember Chase HQ in the arcade? How about Super Chase HQ for Super Nintendo? Well, from the moment I started playing this game, I said to myself, this is my kind of game. The reason for that is because this is the first game I have played that had any similarities to one of my all time favorite games Chase HQ. I had no idea that some of the missions in Wreckless were going to be in the style that you have to hunt down an opponent and smash the cars in. This game is all about fun.

Graphics

The graphics in Wreckless our astounding. The reflections and the effects are the best that I have ever seen in any videogame that I have ever played. One of the greatest effects in this game is the heat effects. When you are out on the road in the real world have your ever noticed when something gets hot you can see a haze from the heat? Well in Wreckless that actually happens, which was surprising to me. This causes a minor distortion to your vision that happens every once in awhile. It just shows where videogames are going today. Another effect is the lighting effects from the sun on the water; they make it look picture perfect. Your going to love the eye candy in this one, not just because of the neat effects, but also because of the car damage. Every time you crash into anything, something happens to your car. You can lose the hood, a door, the engine cover, and many other things such as a bumper. Just looking at the neon signs in the big cities will let you know that the Xbox is capable of processing amazing graphics. Some of the textures that are in a far distance appear blurry sometimes. But if you look at the buildings close by you can see the great detail. After you play a mission, beat it or just run out of time, you can view the replay. It's not just a replay. It's a more of an enhanced replay. When you view a replay it's pure craziness. The first thing you see is something different, they made the replays sometimes look like old times, with lines in the film, or you will see something that looks like a black and white sketch, it's really hard to explain. Once you see it, you will understand just how sweet the replays are. Sometimes you'll see something that looks like a security camera in the replay as well. The fact that you can save your replays on the Xbox hard drive is a plus. There is just some awesome crashes that your going to have to save.

Sound

The audio in the game is comprised mostly of pumping techno beats that fit the game well. There is no support to use custom music tracks. In the pedestrian background, you can hear people yelling once in awhile. There is a voice that sounds like he's talking through a radio to you. He tells you what to do at the beginning of each mission. Wreckless has awesome engine and tire screeching effects. These effects never sound the same because you are always going over different terrain, like stairs, fences, etc.

Gameplay

The main options on the menu are Mission mode, Replay mode, and a nice Stat mode. The first two speak for themselves, but the Stat mode is all the stats of the game on your Xbox. It tells you how long you played the game for, how many objects and vehicles destroyed, total distance traveled, and max speed.

There are 2 scenario's to select in the mission mode. Scenario A is "Hong Kong Police and Inspector", and Scenario B is "New Spies Ho and Chang". Each has 10 missions. This game is all about completing missions. One of the first ones is great because it reminds me of Chase HQ. You have to literally chase down other cars and smash them till they are destroyed. But all of the missions are not like that, each have their own unique little story that you must complete. You have to recover counterfeit plates in one of these missions; similar to wrecking the enemies car except they can hit you and can get back what you took from them. After you beat the first few levels, you get to spy on someone and take pictures of him. In order to do that you must drive very carefully because you are driving on a narrow dock. Some of the missions do get frustrating due to the fact that this is not an "easy" game. Before each mission you can choose either normal or hard. Also on that same screen you can choose heavy or light traffic. As you are driving the controls will vary depending on which car you pick. There are small cars, sports cars, buggy-type cars, and many more. Now the controls in this game are a bit loose. Sometimes if you hit a little bump at high speeds your whole car will flip over and you will lose control. This is not a good thing since the missions are timed and you need to get to where you have to go. The right analog pad serves as a "look around" camera at any time in the game. You can change the view of your car, if you can't stand the one that's behind the car, to one that's on the ground. I can't even begin to tell you how many different cars you will come across on the roads. Trust me, there's lots, including buses, cop cars, trucks, and ambulance's. You will see broken windshield's, as well as damage to other vehicles. One thing I didn't like was how they disappear after you hit them hard enough. If, at any time, you flip over, your car magically appears without a scratch.

Pretty much everything in the game can be hit and destroyed. However, there are some parts where you think you can fly threw and be safe, but you end up smashing into a solid wall. Now when I first saw people in the street I tried to run them over, but it just didn't happen. This game is not like GTA3, which mean you cannot kill pedestrians. Darn! No blood anywhere.

Bottom Line:

I am the type of gamer who likes a game that you can just pop in and play. And this is exactly what wreckless is all about. This game runs very smooth. The one thing that Bunkasha should have added in this game was a multiplayer mode. Would have actually been fun trying to chase down your friend. In the end, Wreckless is a good must-buy game.